Homeless camps are often blamed for crime but experts say it's not so simple
Specific homeless camps may fuel property crime, but one researcher says on average, camps do not appear to increase city-wide crime rates.
Do illegal homeless camps generate crime? It's a sensitive question, but one that's becoming politically urgent in cities where pandemic-era tolerance policies have allowed the camps to sprawl into more visible areas.
In Los Angeles, Sheriff Alex Villanueva has been at loggerheads with city leaders, accusing them of being too lax with camps. In San Francisco, Mayor London Breed recently promised to crack down on the illegal drug economy in the Tenderloin district, where sidewalk camping is common.
And in Seattle, there's concern about people going into the camps on their own to.
